


spun the stars

by couldaughter



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alex And Maria Being Friends Is MLM/WLW Solidarity, Band Fic, F/F, Friendship, Gen, Like... Extensive References, Nebulous Happy Future, Panic! at the Disco References, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 10:22:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20544575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/couldaughter/pseuds/couldaughter
Summary: “Oh, he destroyed me,” said Alex, apparently without sarcasm. Although, with Alex, it could be pretty difficult to tell. “You know I could never play bar chords.”“I remember,” said Liz. “It made our Camisado cover a complete train wreck.”“Ryan Ross betrayed me personally with that B minor,” said Alex, monotone.





	spun the stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [myrmidryad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myrmidryad/gifts).

> me, some weeks ago: it is my personal headcanon that danger! at the picture show was liz, alex and maria's p!atd cover band in high school  
emma myrmidryad: *enables me*  
me, now: fuck

“Open mic night’s coming up,” said Maria, slumping against the table with a sigh. “I’m taking bets on the worst acoustic cover of the evening.”

Alex, the little bastard, grinned around the straw of his milkshake. “I’ll put five bucks on a tribute to Nicki Minaj’s career.”

“Coward,” said Liz, sliding into the booth and throwing her antennae down beside Maria’s menu. “I’ve got ten on Careless Whisper.”

“Oooh,” said Alex. He leaned back against the leather seat. It creaked gently. “A bold choice.”

Maria leaned across the booth and took a sip of Alex’s milkshake (‘Blender’s Game’). The milk moustache was totally worth it.

“God,” said Liz, leaning forward on her elbows, chin in her hands. Her hair shone under the cafe’s fluorescent lights. She grinned. “Remember our band?”

Alex raised his eyebrows. The scar above them stretched with them, a remnant of some accident Maria didn’t know about. “Oh, of course.” He rested his chin in his hand, fingers curled against his mouth, looking wistful. “I was so much worse at guitar back then.”

“I hear Guerin gave you a real run for your money,” said Maria. Mentioning Michael only stung a little bit, a suitable distance having been achieved from their friends-with-something-approaching-benefits situation. It helped that Alex hadn’t jumped the guy’s bones yet, although Maria was fully ready to shove their heads together like the Barbies she’d begged Mimi for back in elementary school.

“Oh, he destroyed me,” said Alex, apparently without sarcasm. Although, with Alex, it could be pretty difficult to tell. “You know I could never play bar chords.”

“I remember,” said Liz. “It made our Camisado cover a complete train wreck.”

“Ryan Ross betrayed me personally with that B minor,” said Alex, monotone. It was an old argument. Maria could remember having it at least ten separate times in the school music room. “What was I supposed to do? Get better at guitar?”

“How could we have expected effort from you when we, the singer and drummer, also didn’t try,” said Liz, on script. “Truly unreasonable.”

“Excuse you,” said Maria, dredging up her lines from the depths of her memory. “The singer was giving it her fucking all every time. _No one _has ever sung Northern Downpour with such passion. Brendon Urie would be shaking in his goddamn boots if he’d seen us.”

Liz took a sip of her own milkshake (‘Cold Encounters of the Stirred Kind’). “Didn’t you hear the Bush Hall version?”

“Point,” said Maria. That version still made her tear up sometimes just to think about.

“Point,” agreed Alex. He paused for a second, then grinned, something sinister in his eyes. “You know, it’s been over ten years since our last show. Maybe we’re due a reunion gig.”

Liz immediately nodded, the traitor, and pulled out her phone. “Rosa would totally do another poster for us, she’s always texting me how boring her GED work is.”

The original posters had all been produced and printed under the table in the school’s computer lab, back when it was still all CRT monitors and a single, ancient inkjet printer. Maria could remember a couple of rose-tinted lunch periods spent sneaking Rosa onto school grounds without getting caught by the hall monitors.

Liz turned to Maria, eyes mirroring Alex’s sinister light. “You up for it, DeLuca? Recapturing some former glory?”

“You know chicks love a lead singer,” said Alex. He winked, which made it worse when Maria felt herself blush. Dick.

“Ugh,” she said, after a suitably dramatic pause. “Fine. I’ll get the fucking shirts out of storage.”

“Oh, I _knew _you still had them!” Liz crowed, slinging an arm around Maria’s shoulders and squeezing her against her side. “Danger! At The Picture House lives again.”

“Maybe we can actually get Kyle to play bass this time around,” said Alex. He pulled out his own phone. “We’re gonna have to make another fucking group text, aren’t we? Like Pod People wasn’t bad enough.”

“You’re just mad that Michael is definitely talking about you where you can’t see,” said Liz, sagely. “Max complains about it all the time.”

* * *

“God,” said Alex, voice hoarse. “Just like old times, huh?” The last chords of Mad as Rabbits were still fading as the crowd started to disperse towards the bar. Maria reset the microphone and tilted her head back, shaking out her curls. She’d forgotten how much head banging she got done during shows.

Liz nodded and shoved her drumsticks into her bag. Her shirt, screen-printed by Rosa the week before, was stuck to her in weird places. “I feel like my arms are gonna fall off.”

“I’ll hold them for you,” said Max, coming up behind and pressing a kiss to the nape of her neck.

“Ew,” said Maria, batting at Liz’s arm. “Don’t sleep with groupies, babe, it’s beneath you.”

“I don’t know,” said Liz, turning into Max’s arms. “I can always lower my standards a little.”

Alex caught Maria’s eye and mimed gagging over the neck of his guitar. Maria stifled a laugh and waved Liz away. “Go mack on your boyfriend somewhere else, girl,” she said. “I’m happy you’re happy, but I don’t need it all up in my face.”

Liz rolled her eyes and pulled Max over to the bar. “He can buy me a couple drinks, first. I’m high maintenance.”

Alex raised a fist in solidarity before stowing his guitar into its case, battered and covered in an extensive collection of band stickers. He crossed the stage and pulled Maria into a hug, not hesitant at all.

“You sounded awesome tonight,” he said, fondly, chin resting against her hair. “Can’t believe Brendon wasn’t here to hear you absolutely Kill Tonight.”

Maria grinned. “Oh, I know,” she said. “I am fucking incredible.”

“You bet,” said Alex. He pulled back, brushing his hands over her shoulders. “One night only, huh?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Maria. “I’ll have to figure out if I had fun or not. I’ll let you know in a couple weeks.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “In that case, I’ll leave you to think on it. I spy a couple of adoring fans headed your way.” He glanced over Maria’s shoulder significantly before vanishing into the crowd, headed towards a couple of people she vaguely recognised as regulars. 

Before Maria could turn to see for herself, she heard the unmistakable sound of high heels tapping on the floor. Only one woman she knew would wear heels to the Pony.

“Isobel,” she said, turning in one fluid motion. “Did you enjoy the show?”

“Not my usual scene,” Isobel admitted. She smiled slightly, one side of her mouth twisting as her eyes sparkled in the dim light. “But yeah. The lead singer was pretty good.”

Isobel was dressed for the night in an MCR shirt and ripped jean shorts over purple tights. It was like someone had reached into Maria’s foggy bisexual teen fantasies and recreated it in full high definition detail. She swallowed heavily. 

“Thanks,” she said. “Uh, you look good. I guess you’re branching out style-wise as well as musically.” She couldn’t remember ever seeing Isobel in shorts, even when she was possessed by an evil alien, or during the heatwave in ‘05. 

Isobel ducked her head, strands of blonde hair falling out of her french braid to brush her face. “Rosa thought it’d be funny to do a whole ‘I’m with the band’ look. I didn’t want to say no.”

“Well, now I know where to send flowers,” said Maria. 

A pink tinge bloomed high on Isobel’s cheeks. She bit her lip. Maria tried valiantly not to stare.

They stood in silence for a few moments, both unwilling to move away. 

“You want anything?” Maria asked, gesturing towards the bar. “I know the owner, I reckon I can score some free drinks.”

Isobel blinked, but she didn’t leave. 

“I mean,” said Maria. “I’m getting a vibe here, and if you’re getting the same vibe, I figure a drink couldn’t hurt.”

It took a few seconds for Isobel to respond, her face growing progressively pinker. Maria could almost hear the cogs turning.

“Why not,” Isobel said, almost tripping over the words. “I mean, there _is _a vibe.” She did air quotes around the word ‘vibe’, which Maria would’ve considered a deal-breaker if she’d ever thought about it before. As it was, Isobel was definitely hot enough to make up for it.

Alex raised his eyebrows in her direction as she led Isobel to the bar. Maria stuck her tongue out, just to startle the laugh out of him.

“Michael’s around somewhere,” said Isobel, in Alex’s direction. “Just so you know.”

Alex tipped his drink in her direction. “Duly noted.” 

Isobel turned to Maria and leaned in. “They’re both so fucking dumb,” she whispered. “I’m assuming you’d noticed.”

“_So_ fucking dumb,” said Maria. “I’m this close to locking them in Michael’s goddamn trailer.”

“I can move things with my mind,” Isobel said. “I could definitely barricade that door.”

Maria smiled at her. “Other people _wish _they had our contingency plans.”

Isobel grinned back, oddly shy. They’d made their way past the bar and, as Maria pushed open the fire door, she realised they were alone.

“It’s pretty cold out here,” said Isobel, conversationally. She leaned back against the brick wall of the Pony and tilted her head back, looking up at the sky. The stars were bright and clear, the moon waxing.

“Mmmm,” said Maria. She leaned back beside Isobel, a bare few inches separating them. “If I had a letter jacket I’d totally offer it to you. It’d be smooth as fuck.”

“Oh, I bet,” said Isobel. She turned her head towards Maria. She was taller, but not so much so that Maria wouldn’t be able to reach her.

As it happened, Isobel was willing to meet her in the middle. Maria smiled against her mouth, one hand fisting in Isobel’s stupid cute MCR shirt. Isobel tangled her fingers in Maria’s hair and gasped slightly, hot breath ghosting across Maria’s lips. It took a lot of willpower not to shove her free hand into Isobel’s back pocket, or press her up against the wall hard enough to bruise.

After a really inappropriately long time for a public makeout session, Maria broke off and took a deep breath. Her mouth felt swollen and wet, hot to the touch.

She swallowed. “You always wanted to be a groupie?”

“It’s a new thing I’m trying out,” said Isobel. She kissed Maria again, soft and quick, and smiled back. “Thoughts?”

“Oh, I’m a big fan,” said Maria, breathless. “Why do you think we started the band in the first place?”

“None of you were in it for the love of music?”

Maria didn’t bother to grace that with a response. It was a lot easier to press up against Isobel instead, feel the heat of her body through her shirt, run her hands up the soft skin of her arms.

“Right,” said Isobel, hoarsely. “Agreed.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from She Had The World by, ofc, Panic! at the Disco
> 
> Ryan Ross DID betray Alex (me) with that fucking B minor. Don't you know I have small hands, Ryan!!!
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this thinly veiled excuse for Maribel makeouts! Love those women and their intense UST.
> 
> I am available on tumblr/twitter @dotsayers! Please come talk to me about my WLWs, I love them so much.


End file.
